Senator Patty Murray (D. Washington) introduced a bill on June 25 to increase the use of Federal Highway Trust Funds for ferry services from its current level of $38 million a year to $150 million a year. Cosponsors included both California Senators Feinstein and Boxer along with eight other Democratic Senators from coastal states.

The bill would add "ferry maintenance facilities" to the allowable use of funds, add "ferries" to the Clean Fuels Program, establish a Joint Ferry Program Office (at the Department of Transportation) to coordinate federal programs affecting ferry boat operations, establish a database on systems, routes and passenger counts and establish an institute to conduct R&D, promote ferry services and preserve historical information.

Senator Murray noted that the federal investment in ferries is only one-tenth of one percent of the total Surface Transportation Program and that there is virtually no coordination at the federal level to promote ferry services. She also noted that other forms of surface transport have their own agencies to promote and coordinate services, while ferries have been overlooked.